Villar Perosa submachine gun

(Author's photo via Royal Armouries Collection)

This was the first submachine gun to be used by any military, adopted by the Italian Army in 1915 and used by them on a large scale throughout the First World War. The original patent, titled "Arma da fuoco automatica extra rapida" ("Extra fast-firing automatic firearm") was filed on the 8th of September 1915 by Officine di Villar Perosa (O.V.P.), a factory in Pinerolo, just outside of Turin. This factory was controlled by the company Roberto Incerti & C. - Villar Perosa S.A. (R.I.V.), which was itself a subsidiary of the larger FIAT ( automobile company in Turin. The factory was named for the small town of Villar Perosa, near Pinerolo, which was the birthplace of Fiat's founder Gionvanni Agnelli; the location was chosen by Agnelli to create employment for his local community.


Colonel Bethel-Abiel Revelli di Beaumont (left) and R.I.V.'s Officine di Villar Perosa plant in Pinerolo (right).
 
Officine di Villar Perosa were, by trade, a metalworking company who produced components for bicycles, automobiles, and industrial machinery. However in about the 1910s it began to absorb some of the responsibilities of Fiat's armaments division, under the consultancy of Colonel (then Major) Bethel-Abiel Revelli, a respected ordnance officer of the Italian Army who had designed the Glisenti Mod. 1910 service pistol. The first work that O.V.P. undertook with regards to small arms appears to have been relating to the Genovesi-Revelli self-loading rifle. In 1903, the Italian Army purchased a patent from an engineer named Filippo Genovesi which protected a method of converting the Carcano Mod. 1891 service rifle into an automatic self-loader. But the prototypes built according to Genovesi's specifications proved to be so defective that the Army requested that Colonel Revelli revise the design into something workable. The patents protecting the new and improved Genovesi rifle by Revelli were filed in the name of Officine di Villar Perosa, and appear to be the first documentation of the working relationship between Revelli and O.V.P. The Revelli-O.V.P. rifle was very briefly adopted for service by the Bersaglieri corps, with an order for 6,000 guns, though this was terminated almost immediately due to the unsatisfactory performance of the weapon in field trials during the Italo-Turkish War. Attempts were also made to sell this weapon for export to Britain, France, Austria-Hungary, and Germany, resulting in no sales.

Though the Revelli-O.V.P. rifle was in no way related to the submachine gun on a conceptual level, it is interesting to note that the weapon bore an early version of the Revelli-O.V.P. locking mechanism which would later be used in the Villar Perosa submachine gun. The bolt guide was set at a canted angle and contained a steep 45° incline in its forward-most section, which engaged with a small, diagonal-shaped cam on the right side of the bolt (carrying the cocking handle). In the Revelli-O.V.P. rifle, this is engaged manually by hand to keep the bolt locked shut, and is not part of the firing cycle which is instead operated by recoil and assisted by a set of locking lugs on the bolt face. However it seems relatively obvious that Revelli probably gleaned the idea for what would become the Villar Perosa locking mechanism from this design.


The locking system of the Revelli-O.V.P. rifle, in which the bolt is set a canted angle until it is manually forced into a 45° incline which keeps it shut. This was
a direct precursor to the locking system of the Villar Perosa submachine gun.

In 1915, Colonel Revelli again came into collaboration with Officine di Villar Perosa in the design of a new weapon, commissioned by Metallurgica Bresciana già Tempini (MBT) - the manufacturers of the aforementioned Glisenti pistol - who requested a rapid-firing, lightweight machine gun chambered in a pistol calibre, specifically the 9×19mm Glisenti cartridge. It is not known why MBT outsourced the design of this weapon to O.V.P. - perhaps because they wanted to see if the concept was worthwhile before they committed to producing it - but nevertheless this significant in that it was, as far as is known, the first such instance in which a weapon of this type was specifically requested; fully-automatic weapons chambered in pistol cartridges had existed prior to this point, but typically only as fully-automatic conversions of existing pistols, or scaled-down Maxim guns strictly demonstrative purposes, rather than entirely new concepts made from the ground-up. Under Revelli's design direction, a weapon meeting this requirement was developed, known as the Pistola Mitragliatrice O.V.P. ('O.V.P. Machine Pistol') - though almost ubiquitously known today as simply the 'Villar Perosa'.

The design principle of the Villar Perosa was relatively simple. The weapon consisted of two tubular receivers and barrels, each housing their own firing mechanisms and triggers that operate independently of one another, and both feeding from separate magazine feeds. Effectively, the Villar Perosa was two guns fixed together as one unit. They operated on a blowback action which was retarded by the friction of the bolt acting against an inertial-based lock. Each receiver was built with a lateral cocking slot which, in their forward-most sections, tapered off into a sudden 45° incline, described by Revelli as a “shoe”. The base of the cocking handle was shaped like a rhomboid which lay neatly into the shoe of the cocking slot, so that when the bolt was in the forward position (i.e., closed), it was locked shut against the chamber. Meanwhile the bolt itself was made in two separate parts: the bolt body (carrying the cocking handle), and the firing pin. The bolt body had a cam slot which engaged with a tab protruding from the side of the firing pin. The cocking handle engaging with the shoe, caused the bolt face to rotate 45° while the firing pin remained at a level angle. This resulted in the firing pin tab engaging directly the cam of the bolt body, which permitted the firing pin to come forward only when the bolt had completed its 45° rotation in the shoe of the cocking slot.

The Villar Perosa was fired from a pair of thumb triggers that engaged directly with the sears. The independent feed openings took a pair of 25-round curved, double-stacked box magazines which were mounted on the top of the gun and fed downward into the receivers with gravity assistance. The magazine release system was unorthodox in that the magazine housings were rotated clockwise to lock the magazines in and anti-clockwise to release them. The barrels were about 12.5 inches (317 mm) in length with six groove rifling at a right-hand twist, the overall length of the weapon was about 23.8 inches (605 mm), and the overall weight came in at about 17.9 lb (8.15 kg) loaded and 14.3 lb (6.4 kg) unloaded.


An early prototype of the Villar Perosa, mounted to a fixed stand by the connecting bar running beneath the twin receivers. The cocking
pawls, barrel threads, and magazine release studs appear not to be present on this model. The patent sketch (right) was drawn from
this photo.

The first military tests of the Villar Perosa were undertaken in early 1915 and it was the Corpo Aeronautico Militare ('Military Aviation Corps'), not the regular Army, that first expressed serious interest in adopting this weapon. A pre-production batch of 50 trial guns was delivered to the Aviation Corps in April 1915 for issue as protective armaments on Farman MF. 11 reconnaissance planes. The early use of these weapons on aircraft has led many experts to believe that the Villar Perosa was originally designed exclusively as an aircraft gun, and was only later "adapted" for terrestrial use by infantry troops, but there is no documentary evidence of this assertion. In fact Colonel Aurelio Bontempelli, the chief of the Department of Aerial Artillery (which presided over the adoption of the weapon by the Aviation Corps), stated explicitly in 1917 that the Villar Perosa had always been intended for infantry use: "The Aviation Corps were the first to adopt the Fiat machine gun and machine pistol, weapons which, although originally designed for the infantry, had not had the initial favour they rightly enjoy now."

The distribution of the Villar Perosa to the Aviation Corps before the infantry was not by design, but merely because the regular Army, who had always been the weapon's primary intended customer, had failed to express serious interest until after Italy entered into the First World War on the 23rd of May 1915. With the immediate mobilization of the Italian Army, it was discovered that the number of machine guns in their inventory was seriously lacking, and an urgent supply of automatic weapons was required. Military trials of the Villar Perosa were undertaken in the middle months of 1915 by the Supreme Command Technical Office, resulting in its rapid adoption by August, helped in part by the good relationship that Major Revelli and Giovanni Angelli enjoyed with the Italian government. In September the weapon was demonstrated to, and approved by, the Chief of Staff Luigi Cadorna, and it was officially taken into service as the Pistola Mitragliatrice Fiat Mod. 1915 ('Fiat Model 1915 Machine Pistol'). From the start it was taken into service as both an infantry weapon and an aerial gun.

Villar Perosa variants

To accommodate for the two distinct roles for which the Villar Perosa was adopted - ground infantry and aerial gunner - two different variants of the gun were produced from 1915 - 1918, which were delivered in separate batches to the regular Army and Aviation Corps respectively (the Navy also received some for seaplanes). No official distinction was made between these two models, so they will be referred to here as the 'Infantry pattern' and 'Aerial pattern'. It is understood that the guns for the infantry contract were assembled at Metallurgica Bresciana già Tempini, whereas the aerial contract was handled by Officine di Villar Perosa, but both types were made using components from both factories. It is not known whether these two models had different serial number ranges but it is doubted, as the brass spade grips that bear the serial numbers were all made at O.V.P..

Infantry pattern Villar Perosa

Typical example of the early pattern Villar Perosa submachine gun, complete with the original shield mount from which this weapon was
intended to be fired. This was the standard version of the weapon adopted by the Italian Army for issue to infantry troops in 1916.
(Herman Historica)

The infantry version of the Villar Perosa is the model which was produced in the largest volume, and was issued extensively to ground troops and not to aviators (though some of these guns were adapted to fit onto aircraft by the Central Powers - see The Austro-Hungarian response, below). It is easily identifiable by its large circular disc, situated in the mid-section of the gun, which was described by Colonel Revelli as a "ball and socket joint". This contained a five-stage sighting system which consisted of a peephole and an adjustable arm containing several front sight posts of different heights. On the bottom end of the arm was a peg, which fit into a series of holes which would align with a different sighting graduation (so for example the first peg would align with the sight post #1, which was the lowest graduation of 100 metres, and the fifth peg would correspond to sighting post #5 of 500 metres).

The circular disc itself was not solely intended to carry the sighting unit. It was, in fact, a socket joint onto which a large metal shield mount would slot. This was the subject of Major Revelli's patent of  which was published just  after the patent for the weapon itself. The twin-legged shield was intended to provide protection for the gunner, but severely obstructed their view, as the peephole opening in the central disc was the only window through which the gunner could see their targets. The shield was also very heavy, and required its own carrier. The weight did have the advantage, however, of negating much of the Villar Perosa's fierce kick during firing.


The disc-shaped socket containing the adjustable sighting unit, a feature only present on the infantry model Villar Perosas. This
acts as a flexible connecting point for the gun shield.
(Left: author's photo, Right: Herman Historica)

The shield was apparently not well-liked, as it was heavy, obstructive, and had a large profile. The shield mount was later phased out in favour of a detachable bipod which was lighter and less obstructive for the user. This clamped around the twin muzzles and stowed underneath the barrels. The introduction of the bipod essentially rendered the disc socket redundant but it was retained as a feature so as to not upset the production process which had been well established by that time. While the bipod was certainly more convenient from the perspective of transporting and mounting the weapon in as little time as possible, and also allowed it to be easily fired from an off-hand position, it offered inferior support upon firing than the shield. The "kick" produced by the Villar Perosa without a stable mount was quite intense and this made it difficult to effectively aim without some kind of weighty support to counteract the recoil. The light and somewhat flimsy bipod didn't provide this and was therefore only really good for firing off imprecise bursts of fire. But it nonetheless seems to have been regarded as preferable to the shield.

Aerial pattern Villar Perosa

Left - early aerial pattern Villar Perosa with a flexible pintle mount, raised sights, and brass catchers. Also note the enlarged magazine release catches. Right - later aerial
pattern Villar Perosa with simplified sights and spring-loaded magazine release catches.
(Beretta Museum)

The aerial version of the Villar Perosa differed in several aspects from the infantry model. Most notably, the entire circular socket joint, containing the sighting unit, was absent on the aerial model and was instead the sighting system consisted of a set of elevated two-stage sights; a rear circular ring sight built onto the spade grips and a detachable front sight fitted between the barrels. Two methods of mounting were employed in the aerial model. Initially, these guns were simply affixed to the aircraft via the cocking lever bar which ran underneath the twin receivers. Later, a flexible pintle mount was introduced, which gave greater freedom of movement. The pintle joint was screwed onto the rear sections of the barrels in the same position that the disc socket would be on the infantry model. The pintle mount is known to have been used in observation balloons, but most photos showing the gun mounted on planes depict the lever bar method of mounting. A short tripod was also devised for intended ground use, but this does not appear to have been widely used. Enlarged magazine release catches are also present on some aerial models, likely to facilitate for thick gloves which pilots and observers typically wore.

Variances in magazine catches

Over the course of the Villar Perosa's production life, detail modifications and improvements were made to the basic design. The most prominent of these was the change made to the magazine housings and release catches. In early examples of the Villar Perosa, as has been already described, the magazines were locked in by the anti-clockwise rotation of the entire magazine housing. This was an interesting system but did not prove to be terribly efficient in combat conditions. Not only was it excessively fiddly for the gunner or assistant loader to operate under stress, it also provided no protection against dirt or mud, which could not only freely enter the feed opening - even if a magazine was loaded - but also could get trapped in between the rotating surface of the magazine housing and the receiver and therefore jam the release. This pattern of magazine release was standard on all Villar Perosas made in 1915 and 1916, but was remedied later in 1917 with a new design of release catch which was introduced around the same time as the bipod mount.


Left: the early pattern rotating magazine housing of the Villar Perosa, which turn anti-clockwise to release the magazines.
Right: The late pattern fixed magazine housing, which have spring-loaded release catches and feed protector wings.
(Vittorio Balzi)

The updated Villar Perosa magazine feed was fixed and non-rotating, and relied on a spring release catch to lock the magazines in place, as is typical on magazine-fed machine guns. This type of catch was instantly distinctive from the earlier type, as the catch lever was longer and located forward of the magazine, rather than behind it, as the spur-type catches of the rotating feeds were. The problem of dirt entering the feed opening was also addressed with the addition of feed protector wings on either side of it. These are present on all models with the spring release, but also appear to be present on a very limited number of the early pattern magazine housings, indicating that this feature was actually introduced shortly before the later pattern magazine release. The protector wings became a permanent feature of the Villar Perosa by about mid-1917.

The Villar Perosa in infantry service

"In charge of a machine pistol section, he boldly advanced, with the weapon leaning on his left arm, launching precise bursts of fire against the enemy. Wounded, he continued to fire, contributing, with his energetic demeanor, to the surrender of twenty-five men."

- Silver Medal of Military Valor citation for Domenico Catena, 17th May 1917


A Villar Perosa machine gun crew of 1916, with the weapon mounted to the original gun shield and wooden case
containing two spare barrels, a cleaning kit, and 10 magazines.
(La Guerra: dalle raccolte del reparto fotografico del Comando supremo del R. Esercito)

An initial order for 2,480 guns for distribution to infantry troops was granted jointly to Officine di Villar Perosa and Metallurgica Bresciana già Tempini. Manufacture of the shield mounts for the infantry models was contracted to Gio Ansaldo & C. of Genoa and the Fabbrica d'Armi Nazionale of Turin, and manufacture of the barrels and extractors was outsourced to Fabbrica d'Armi Pietro Beretta in Brescia. The first batch of Villar Perosas to be delivered to the infantry arrived in April 1916, and consisted 125 guns (divided between the 1st and 3rd Army Groups). The weapon received its baptism by fire during the Battle of Asiago (15th May - 10th June), during which an additional 239 guns were delivered to the 1st and 5th Armies who saw active combat. The delivery and distribution of Villar Perosa submachine guns for the entirety of 1916 was 946 guns distributed across the 1st - 6th Armies and the Carnia Zone. This was well short of the 2,480 guns ordered at the end of 1915, and the significant delays in production were partly attributed to difficulties in manufacturing the gun shields at Fabbrica d'Armi Nazionale.
 
The Villar Perosa was issued in 'sections', i.e. squads of twenty-eight men. A pistola mitragliatrice section consisted of two Villar Perosas, operated by two gun teams who were presided over by a single section leader. The core gun crews comprised seven men each: a gunner, an assistant loader, the shield-bearer, and four ammunition carriers. The other twelve men of the squad were auxiliary members of the squad; regular riflemen who carried additional ammunition for the gun and could be called upon to replace potential losses in the main gun crews. Troops who were trained in the use of the Villar Perosa were given a special badge to denote that they could operate these weapons (shown below). Each gun was issued with a wooden chest containing ten spare magazines, a cleaning kit, and two replacement barrels.

Although originally issued and deployed in the role of a squad support weapon, it did not take long before some forward-thinking officers realized the greater potential of the Villar Perosa as an offensive weapon, particularly for assaults on enemy trenches. Already in November 1916, the core principles of this idea were laid out in full in a memo authored by Captain Giuseppe Bassi, entitled 'Establishment and implementation of machine pistol sections'. This document proposed the allocation of Villar Perosas to specialist assault grenadiers, who would make effective use of these guns by employing them from a mobile stance, fired from the hip, in conjunction with the throwing of bombs and grenades. Captain Bassi's ideas were officially endorsed by Lieutenant-General Francesco Grazioli, who also recognized early on the potential efficacy of the Villar Perosa in offensive operations, though initially the Supreme Command did not accept this and Bassi was reprimanded after implementing these tactics without authorization. But by June 1917, with the formation of the Reparti d'Assalti ('Assault Departments'; popularly known as the 'Arditi' or 'Daring Ones'), the assault tactics pioneered by Bassi and Grazioli were adopted as official doctrine for commando troops.

In the ranks of the Reparti d'Assalto, the Villar Perosa was still issued in 'sections', but the composition of these squads was different from that of the regular battalions. These were known as 'Pistollettieri' ('Gunslinger') sections which comprised a grenadier-gunner, equipped with one Villar Perosa and four grenades; and four ammunition carriers, who between them carried twelve spare magazines in special jacket pouches. The roles of the shield-bearer and assistant loader were eliminated, and there was greater responsibility placed on the gunner to operate the weapon individually. Typically, 'pistollettieri' were advised to fire the Villar Perosa from one barrel at a time, in bursts of three or four, so as to preserve ammunition and avoid constant reloading. But in the heat of battle, this was not always possible. To make it possible for the gunner to use the Villar Perosa as an individual weapon, a special mounting system known as the 'Bari Type assault carriage' (described below) was adopted for Arditi use in June. 'Pistollettieri' sections became an integral and effective part of the assault divisions in the late stages of the war and, at the time of their implementation, no other army in the war had a submachine gun in service. It would not be until August of 1918 that the German Sturmbataillons would introduce an equivalent weapon of their own - the Bergmann MP 18,I submachine gun.


The late war Villar Perosa in light configuration with a bipod mount, which was phased into service
to replace the obstructive gun shield from December 1916.
(Istituto per la storia del Risorgimento italiano)

The pistola mitragliatrice doctrine in the regular infantry remained much the same through 1917, except for the replacement of the shield mount in favour of a lighter and more easily portable bipod starting in December 1916. This rendered the role of the shield-bearer obsolete. Owing to increased demand for the weapon, the battalions were expanded in May 1917 to include an extra Villar Perosa section, and then another in June, bringing the total up to three sections per battalion. The total number of weapons delivered by October was around 5,200. But the Italian military disaster at Caporetto in October took a huge chunk out of the progress that had been made in building up the pistola mitragliatrice sections; a post-war inquiry placed the number of Villar Perosas that were lost in this single battle alone at about 2,000. Owing to this, many machine gun companies had to be restructured or otherwise completely abolished. However the Italians did not resign the Villar Perosa to its fate and under the rapid reconstruction programme overseen by the new Chief of Staff Armando Diaz, some 1,820 guns (making up 910 new sections) were delivered in the three months following Caporetto - making up for most of the lost guns, and demonstrating the greater production efficiency that had been achieved since 1916.

The Villar Perosa remained a primary component of the Italian Army's arsenal during the last year of the war and saw extensive use in repelling the failed Austro-Hungarian assault at the Piave in June 1918. But its time was coming to a close. In July, the Deputy Chief of Staff, Pietro Badoglio, authorized the replacement of the Villar Perosa with two new weapons: the Mitragliatrice Leggere ('Light Machine Gun', namely the SIA Mod. 1918), which would succeed the Villar Perosa in the role of a support weapon; and the Moschetto Automatico ('Automatic Musket', the Revelli-Beretta), which would succeed it as an assault weapon. This planned replacement of the Villar Perosa was never completed before the end of the war, but it did ensure that the weapon effectively had no future after 1919.

Ordnance figures by October 1918 give the total number of Villar Perosas in service at that time as 5,800. This may not be counting weapons that were sent to Beretta for conversion into automatic carbines that same month (see below; Villar Perosa carbines). Serial numbers as high as 13,428 have been observed on surviving examples and a reasonable estimate for total production is around 15,000 guns made from 1916 - 1918.

The Villar Perosa in aerial service

"Suddenly an enemy airplane emerges from the fog. It has no rockets, but the machine gun is raging. Lieutenant Juvenal does not remain idle. He takes up the machine pistol and fires relentlessly. The Austrian aircraft retreats. Victory!"

- Guelfo Civinini, 23rd December 1917


Villar Perosa submachine guns as aerial fixtures: on Voisin V (left) and a Caudron G.4 (right) light bombers. Typically fitted as a tail gun for fending off
enemy aircraft in pursuit.
(Museo Civico del Risorgimento Bologna)

In aerial service, the Villar Perosa was fitted to various reconnaissance planes and bombers, including the Voisin V, the Farman MF 11, various Nieuport models, the Savoia-Pomilio SP.3, and the Macchi L.1. Early in the war, it was sometimes used as the primary fixed armament on a plane, but as more 6.5x52mm Fiat-Revelli machine guns became available later in the war, Villar Perosas were relegated to the tail gun. The Villar Perosa remained in aerial use throughout the course of the war and claims that it was totally impractical and ineffective in plane-to-plane combat seem to be mostly just derived from conjecture, as while it obviously was less powerful than the Fiat-Revelli, it is not clear from contemporary records that the Villar Perosa was particularly disliked. The modern idea that it would be useless against aircraft ignores the fact that early military planes of the First World War were unarmored and the pilots were completely exposed to enemy gunfire, meaning a wild volley of shots from the Villar Perosa could very plausibly have presented a threat to an attacking aircraft, as was recorded in a few contemporary accounts. Additionally, the aerial service Villar Perosa was actually issued with a special armour-piercing variant of the 9mm Glisenti cartridge, officially designated 'Cartucce regolemantari mod. 1915 per mitragliatrici' ('Regulatory cartridge mod. 1915 for machine guns'), which was loaded with an over-powder wad which compressed the cartridge load. Reportedly this special cartridge gave satisfactory results against steel plating and was capable of  on light aircraft. Even so, the chances of a pistol calibre weapon inflicting sufficient damage to actually down an aircraft was next to nil.

As the war progressed and both military aircraft and their armaments became more advanced, the Villar Perosa inevitably did fall out of favour. Towards the end of 1918 the decision was made to phase out the Villar Perosa in aerial use in favour of the 6.5x52mm SIA Mod. 1918 light machine gun, which was often mounted in pairs to emulate the Villar Perosa. However the Villar Perosa lived on as an airman's gun in the form of the Carabinetta Automatica (see below; Villar Perosa carbines), which gave equivalent performance but was built as a collapsible takedown gun with a shoulder stock. The total number of Villar Perosas delivered to the Aviation Corps from 1915 - 1918 is not known but it is recorded that 800 such guns were delivered in 1918 alone. Examples of the aerial service Villar Perosa appear to be rare today, indicating that they were of far fewer number than the infantry model. Probably no more than 2,000 - 3,000 Villar Perosas were allocated for aviation use.

Non-standard Villar Perosa mounts

Over the course of its service life, a variety of experimental mounting systems were developed for the Villar Perosa. Some of these were adopted in small numbers or trialed, but were never standardized and only filled niche roles. A few notable examples are listed here.

"Bari" type affusto

The affusto d'assalto tipo brigata "Bari", employed by the Arditi divisions from June 1917 onward.
(Istituto Storico e di Cultura dell'Arma del Genio)

The affusto d'assalto ('assault carriage') was devised by the 139° e 140° Reggimento Fanteria Brigata "Bari" in 1917, and was subsequently adopted by the Arditi corps. This wooden tray-like mount for the Villar Perosa was designed to allow "marching fire" with the weapon, by strapping it around the gunner's chest in the manner of a 'cigarette girl' and essentially freeing up both hands to control the triggers or throw grenades. It could also be worn around the user's back for easy transport of the weapon when not in active use. Captain Giuseppe Bassi, one of the pioneers of assault tactics for the Arditi, favoured the Bari mount and endorsed its use in trench raids, and this mounting system was integral to the doctrinal purpose of the so-called 'pistollettieri' sections who were effectively grenadier-submachine gunners. The Arditi also experimented with the idea of firing the Villar Perosa from the Bari carriage (or a similar contraption) while it was strapped to the back of another soldier who crawled on all fours, essentially constituting a human mount, but one hopes that this was never actually attempted in combat.

It is not clear that any one type of Bari mount was actually standardized in Italian issue. Variances on the affusto concept have been observed, from different styles of wooden trays carrying the weapon, to some versions completely forgoing the tray entirely and simply constituting a strap tethered to the weapon itself. It is probable that Bari mounts were not actually issued, but rather individual Arditi divisions were instructed to improvise their own mounting devices that followed the principles of the Bari affusto.

Bicycle mounts

The Vincitorio bicycle mount for the Villar Perosa, tested in 1918 but not adopted.
(Museo Storico dei Bersaglieri)

The Bersaglieri corps became interested in the concept of mounting the Villar Perosa to the handlebars of a bicycle from 1917 - 1918. The Villar Perosa was considered ideal for affixing to a bicycle, since it was light, compact, and did not require precise aiming to be used effectively. At least three different patterns of bicycle mounting systems for the Villar Perosa were developed. Alberto Capparozzo-Galli patented one such device on the 2nd of March 1918. This was a swivel-joint mount for the infantry model Villar Perosa, which clamped around the disc socket of the gun. It was designed to be fitted to a bicycle's handlebars or to a terrestrial tripod, and was most likely trialed by the Bersaglieri, but does not appear to have been taken into service. The Vincitorio system was another method of bicycle mounting that was trialed by the Bersaglieri without success. A third bicycle mount of unknown attribution was also tested, which consisted of a hinged brace that clamped around the twin receivers of the Villar Perosa. Unlike the Capparozo-Galli system, this mount not flexible and could only be aimed straight forward. This rare experimental mount is today held in the collection of Bapty & Co.

Fake Marazzi mount

The Marazzi patent adjustable anti-aircraft mount - probably not intended for the Villar Perosa.
(Morphy Auctions)

Subject of a 1925 patent by Ettore Marazzi, this was a seated anti-aircraft mount for use on planes and boats. The Marazzi system gave variable elevation through pressure exerted onto the gunner's seat. A reproduction example exists today in the United States which has been passed off by Morphy's auction as an "reproduced bomber or boat mount for the Italian Villar Perosa machine gun... true to the original design". Given that infantry model Villar Perosas were not intended to be mounted to aircraft, it is far more likely that the weapon has been modified to fit the mount and would not have fit otherwise. Moreover, Marazzi's patent sketch depicts a Fiat-Revelli machine gun fitted to this mount, not a Villar Perosa. There is no evidence that this mount was ever intended for, or used with, the Villar Perosa. Certainly this is not the type of aerial mounting that was actually used during the First World War.

Villar Perosa carbines

Beyond methods of adapting the Villar Perosa for different roles though experimental mounts, there were also concerted efforts during the First World War to convert the Villar Perosa from a twin-barreled mounted weapon into a single-barreled, shoulder-fired weapon, thus creating a "true" submachine gun as we would understand the term today. It appears that first individual to conceive this idea was the Villar Perosa's designer, Colonel Bethel-Abiel Revelli, who included a passage in the original patent for the Villar Perosa which read "the gun with one or more barrels may be mounted after the manner of a rifle in order that it may be fired from the shoulder". However other attempts were subsequently made by Alfredo Scotti, Amerigo Cei-Rigotti, Tullio Marengoni, the Tappari brothers, and several other engineers. The Italian Army expressed great interest in this concept and applied it for both aerial and infantry use.

The Carabinetta Automatica O.V.P.

In December 1916, Colonel Revelli demonstrated to the Reparto Aereo di Artiglieria (Air Department of Artillery) a single-barreled submachine gun which was adapted from the Villar Perosa. This weapon employed the Villar Perosa's delayed-blowback action but the external body of the gun was completely redesigned, with a grooved tubular receiver enveloped by a notched sleeve which, when manually retracted, carried the bolt into the cocked position. The vertical magazine feed was retained and a pair of offset two-stage sights were mounted on the left side of the barrel. Revelli's development of this weapon seems to have predated Hugo Schmeisser's design of the Bergmann MP 18,I. This weapon was developed to fulfill a requirement for an aviator's personal defence weapon to succeed the Mauser C96, of which there was a supply-and-demand problem owing to Italy's hostilities with Germany at the time.


The Carabinetta Automatica O.V.P., conceived at the end of 1916 and adopted in 1918. This was not designed for infantry
troops but was in fact a collapsible takedown gun for aviation crews.
(Author's photo via Royal Armouries Collection)

Colonel Revelli's new design was patented by Officine di Villar Perosa on the 10th of March 1917. The resultant weapon was known as the Carabinetta Automatica O.V.P., and was produced with a wooden carrying case with twenty-two spare magazines. The O.V.P. submachine gun was a semi-collapsible weapon; the buttstock was attached to the rear of the receiver via a stud and could be easily detached for compact carry. In May 1918, the O.V.P. submachine gun was taken into service with the Aviation Corps and officially replaced the Mauser C96; its adoption was also approved by the Aviazione Navale (Naval Aviation Corps). It does not appear to have been a replacement for the twin-barreled Villar Perosa, which continued to be mounted on aircraft as a fixed weapon. During 1918 the Aviation Corps received some 500 OVP submachine guns, which are generally thought to have been the only such guns ever made. Manufacture was handled solely by Officine di Villar Perosa and was kept to a very high standard, making extensive use of intricately machined components (contrary to popular belief, these guns were not conversions from the regular Villar Perosa). It was probably for this reason that few were made, and that no order for this gun was placed by the regular Army, though it is reported that a small number were delivered to select Arditi platoons and used in combat at Mofenera in September 1918.

The Moschetto Automatico

Following the development of the O.V.P. submachine gun from the Villar Perosa, the Supreme Command Technical Office conceived a new type of weapon known as the Moschetto Automatico ('Automatic Musket'), which was a conversion of the Villar Perosa into a shoulder-fired infantry carbine or submachine gun. This was generally achieved by mounting a single Villar Perosa receiver onto a wooden buttstock and replacing the spade grips with a conventional rifle trigger mechanism. The Army considered that the moschetto automatico could be employed by assault units as a substitute for the Villar Perosa, and made plans for moschettieri ('musketeer') sections to be integrated into the makeup of the standard rifle companies in each battalion. For whatever reason, the aforementioned Carabinetta Automatica O.V.P. was not given great consideration for this role, probably because it not optimized for mass production in the same way that the moschetto automatico concept would be.

In response to this new requirement, several patterns of moschetti automatici were made for comparative trials, including those of Fiat, Ansaldo, Cei-Rigotti, Mega, Troiano, Tappari, MIDA-Savoia, Neri, and Beretta. In September 1917 Colonel Revelli gave his personal approval to the Beretta pattern, which became known as the Revelli-Beretta system. This was itself made in several variations, with the original idea being a selective-fire submachine gun with a strong piston-type buffer that reduced the automatic fire rate to around 300 rounds per minute (as opposed to the Villar Perosa's 1,500 rpm). However during the trial phases, the Technical Office considered, for simplicity's sake, that the selective-fire function should be eliminated and therefore preference was given to a semi-automatic model which was not, contrary to popular belief, a submachine gun.


The Moschetto Automatico Revelli-Beretta Mod. 1915, adopted towards the end of 1918. This was effectively a single-
barrelled, semi-automatic Villar Perosa fitted to a wooden buttstock with a folding bayonet.
(Author's photo via Royal Armouries Collection)

The Revelli-Beretta pattern was adopted in September 1918 as the Moschetto Automatico Revelli-Beretta Mod. 1915, and was to be produced jointly by Fabbrica d'Armi Pietro Beretta and Manifattura Italiana d'Armi. An order for 5,000 Villar Perosas to be converted into 10,000 Revelli-Beretta carbines was placed, and 3,500 sets of components were ready by October. Although training schools were established for moschetti automatici just prior to the Battle of Vittorio Veneto, and units were delivered to the Italian 6th, 7th, and 9th Armies, there is currently no data to confirm that any of these saw combat use on the front prior to the armistice. Only around 1,400 moschetti automatici (converted from 705 Villar Perosas) had been assembled by November 1918, and General Badoglio informed Beretta that the Army would allow for the delivery of any guns that were in the process of being assembled before the order would be terminated, owing to the end of the war. It is not known how many Revelli-Beretta carbines were produced in total, though probably no more than a few thousand. These remained in service until the 1930s, through predominantly relegated to colonial issue after the First World War.

The Austro-Hungarian response

"I liked it very much, the Italian machine pistol."

- Oberleutnant Felix Hecht von Eleda

Since its debut on the battlefield at Asiago in May 1916, the Austro-Hungarians immediately developed a fascination with the Italian pistola mitragliatrice and sought to introduce their own "machine pistol" into service. The requirement for an equivalent weapon to the Villar Perosa appears to have become official in November of 1916 when the K.u.K. Kriegsministerium commissioned Österreichische Waffenfabriks-Gesellschaft (ŒWG) to develop a selective-fire version of the 9×23mm Selbstladepistole M.12 with an extended 16-round magazine capacity. It was proposed that this would be mounted in pairs to a central buttstock, known in this configuration as the Doppelpistole M.12.


Left - Austro-Hungarian Sturmtruppen training with a captured Villar Perosa in March 1917. Right - Austro-Hungarian mountain troops in early 1917 testing
the prototype Pistolen-Maschinengewehr (left) and the Doppelpistole (center), two domestic attempts to imitate the Villar Perosa.
(Österreichische Nationalbibliothek)

By February 1917, additional development of this concept had been undertaken by Fegyver- és Gépgyár in Budapest. The experimental Pistolen-Maschinengewehr, patented by Rudolf Frommer that month, comprised two 7.65×17mm Frommer Stop machine pistols mounted upside-down onto a special tripod mount with a pair of thumb triggers that engaged the sears of the guns. Both the Pistolen-MG and Doppelpistole systems were distributed in small numbers to select Gebirgsjäger-Bataillonen (Mountain Battalions) for field tests in the first half of 1917, along with feedback manuals, but the weapons did not produce the desired results and by July both projects were suspended in favour of a straight copy of the Villar Perosa (described below).

The Sturmpistole M.18

The Austrian 'Sturmpistole', developed in 1917. This was a straight copy of the Villar Perosa in 9×23mm Steyr,
produced at Škoda-Werke in Plzeň and issued to Sturmbataillonen.
(Museo Nazionale di Castel Sant'Angelo)

In March 1917, Škoda-Werke in Plzeň built a reverse-engineered copy of the Villar Perosa, rechambered in 9×23mm Steyr. This was known as the Sturmpistole ('Assault Pistol'). Though built from original components that were not necessarily interchangeable with those of the Villar Perosa, the Sturmpistole was in all design aspects effectively the same as the Italian gun, with only minor changes. The main point of deviation was the mounting system; the "ball and socket" mount was not retained in the Sturmpistole, and instead replaced by a basic hinge affixed to a wooden frame (somewhat similar to the 'Bari' assault carriage) which could be deployed as a flat stand for the gun, or worn across the user's back for easy transport. The Austro-Hungarians also recognized the lack of requirement for long-distance adjustable sights in a submachine gun and opted instead for a simple V-notch open sight. The Sturmpistole presented a far more promising option than the experimental double-pistols, as it was a tried-and-tested design. After initial tests at the K.u.K. Artillerie-Arsenal in Vienna, the Kriegsministerium decided to push the Sturmpistole into field trials. 50 guns were ordered for the planned Caporetto offensive in October 1917, and were delivered to machine gun companies in the Mrzli-Vodil sector. Italian intelligence, however, learned of the existence of the Sturmpistole just a few days before the operation began via a pair of Czech deserters, who testified that the weapons were of inferior quality to the Villar Perosa, and plagued with reliability problems which mostly originated from the magazines.

The Sturmpistole saw its first use in combat at Caporetto, but required further  due to the problems that afflicted it. By the end of Spring 1918, the Kriegsministerium was satisfied with the weapon and decided on its adoption under the official designation Sturmpistole M.18, with an order for some 40,000 guns being placed. Production was assigned to Škoda and ŒWG. However, the vast majority of these weapons never materialized and Škoda never completed the machine tooling required for mass production. Only a few hundred are thought to have been made in total and were distributed sparingly to selected Sturmbataillonen in the second half of 1918. Most were captured in battle by the Italians during the Battle of the Piave River (July 1918) and the Battle of Vittorio Veneto (October 1918).

Austro-Hungarian stocked guns

Captured Villar Perosa fitted with an Austrian-made buttstock for 'marching fire', as issued to 4. Kaiserjäger Sturmkompagnie,
likely in 1918 with the establishment of specialized submachine gun platoons.
(Heeresgeschichtliches Museum)

Despite the adoption and planned mass-scale issue of the Sturmpistole M.18, the slow production of these guns meant that the Austro-Hungarians were still largely reliant on captured Villar Perosas to arm their storm troopers. Enough of these guns were in circulation that by August 1918, the Sturmbataillonen began to integrate special 'maschinenpistole-züge' ('machine pistol platoons') into their ranks. These troops were armed with Villar Perosas and Sturmpistoles. At some point the Sturmbataillonen adopted the practice of fitting captured Villar Perosas to wooden stocks, to allow them to be fired from the shoulder. These were rather rudimentary in design but were the closest that the Austrians came to developing their own 'moschetto automatico'. It is thought that few of these conversions were made before the end of the war, though numerous examples still exist today in various museums.

The Austrian aerial mount

A captured Villar Perosa mounted to an Austrian Phönix C.1 reconnaissance plane in 1918. The same type of mounting is
seen right at the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum in Vienna.
(Heeresgeschichtliches Museum)

The Austrians, like the Italians, employed the Villar Perosa as an aerial machine gun on some of their aircraft. However since the vast majority of Austrian-service Villar Perosas were captured from ground battles, they were infantry pattern models and had to be adapted to aerial mounting. The Austrian method of achieving this appears to have been through screwing a bracket to the central disc socket which was attached to a hinged pole. The pole would be fitted to the aircraft. It is not known how many Villar Perosas were converted by the Austrians for aerial service, although the total number was probably very small. This practice of mounting infantry pattern Villar Perosas to aircraft was also adopted by the Germans using weapons obtained at Caporetto.

This article is part of a series on Submachine Guns of the First World War